The Moving On Job
by Falcons-Tears
Summary: It has been two years, but the team has finally found Eliot, but seeing their lost Hitter again is not going how they imagined, since Eliot has changed... a lot... SLASH (Eliot/surprise), Sequel to "The Trust Job"
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hey everybody, will you look at this... I'm still alive *smiles* I'm really sorry that I haven't updated any story for so long, but due to some nasty things happening in real life, me being ill and in hospital for a few days amongst them, I really wasn't in the spirit to write anything.

I'm really sorry, but I'll try to update things more frequently, especially to keep my thoughts away from the fact that we most likely won't get a season 6 of Leverage *sad sigh*

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And well... since I tried to get back into the spirit of writing by settling for an easy task: A nice little, fluffy sequel to "The Trust Job", about two thousand words... but somehow... well, this happened. It is still a **sequel to **_**"The Trust Job"**_, but it is not going at all as I first intended to, but I quite liked the way how it turned out (and yes, it's finished, just not totally typed down). There are going to be two or three chapters, depending on how much it actually is, when I've typed down the 40 handwritten pages. But it is way too long for a one-shot, so it is going to be a short chaptered fic *smiles sheepishly*.

I really hope you will like it and reviews will be most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*

And please keep in mind that English is not my native language, so I hope the grammar issues are not too bad...

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Oh, and for the timeline, Eliot left before "The Boy's Night Out Job"... just in case you're wondering *smiles*

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**Warnings:** SLASH (Eliot/surprise)

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**Summary: **It has been two years, but the team has finally found Eliot, but seeing their lost Hitter again is not going how they imagined, since Eliot has changed... a lot... SLASH (Eliot/surprise), Sequel to "The Trust Job"

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**Disclaimer: **None of the Leverage characters belong to me and I just borrowed them for this little story... this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...

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**The Moving On Job**

**Chapter 1**

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Two years...

It had been two long years since Eliot had cut his ties with the Leverage team and had walked out on them... two years of fruitlessly looking for their lost son while trying to honor Eliot's request to continue helping people.

And Eliot had kept his promise, too. The team always had a Hitter helping them. They just appeared out of nowhere when they needed one for a job and in the beginning it had been a bit unsettling, but after a while the team had gotten used to it and they had just realized how good Eliot actually was at what he did.

All the Hitters that were sent to work with them were good, most of them almost on Eliot's level, but none of them as good as he was. And they were always good enough to get the team out safely. In the beginning it had been a bit hard to trust a stranger with their lives, but they also knew that Eliot would never put them in danger so he would never sent them a Hitter he didn't trust. The payment also wasn't a problem, because they all shrugged it off with a "I owe Spencer my life, so the least I can do to repay him is to make sure you're safe."

And they had learned one thing, if you owed something to Eliot Spencer and he asked you to repay it like that, then you made damn sure to do it or you'd find yourself in a lot of trouble.

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Like that the team continued to do their job and help people while trying to look for their missing friend. It wasn't the same, however, not even by a long shot. Only after Eliot had left the team had realized how much Eliot had done for them without them really thinking much about it. There was no one that cooked dinner for them after successful cons. And there was nobody to treat the little wounds and injuries they often sustained, nothing too serious, but simply inconvenient and uncomfortable. But with Eliot's help they had all healed just a little faster, because the Hitter had always known what to do to make them feel better without being too obvious about it. This realization had been another blow and they had all noticed how involved they had really been with each other and how much they had hurt Eliot without really meaning to.

.

But it wasn't only that they missed what Eliot did for them... no, they just missed Eliot, missed his dry humor and his snarky remarks and just that sense of security he had always given them. Hardison missed the bickering between them, but he also missed how Eliot always had his back, no matter what. Parker missed the Hitter's grumbling and she missed his unique way of making her feel more normal and his way of making her accept herself, helped her to feel more human in a totally different way than Hardison could. Sophie missed the long discussions about so many topics she had never thought Eliot would know about and she missed how he always made her tea when she needed it. And Nate... Nate missed his second in command, the man who he trusted with his life and who wasn't afraid to call him on something he did wrong... and he missed the man that had played chess or pool with him to distract him from drinking again, no matter what time of day it was.

To sum it up, it felt like they were missing a big part of the team and a big part of themselves. And so they had of course continued looking for Eliot, even though on a professional level they were okay with the substitutes, but on a personal level they sure as hell weren't. For a while they had even feared that one day they might find Eliot dead, but then again, Eliot knew how to take care of himself, so they had pushed that fear aside.

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After Eliot had left, Nate, Hardison, Parker and Sophie had thought that with their combined skills it would be easy to find where Eliot was hiding, or better what he was doing, because they were sure he would continue working, even if not with them. But they had only met dead end after dead end. But now the Leverage crew had finally found him... but it was a complete coincidence. An old friend of Sophie's had come and visited her, much to Sophie's delight, since she hadn't seen Lucy, who had been sort of an older Aunt to her, in years. At first it had been a normal visit and they had talked about things happening in the years they hadn't seen each other, well Sophie left out a few parts, but then things had changed. Lucy had started to talk animatedly about the nice, young man, who had bought her deceased father's farm a year ago and had been busy renovating it since then. Sophie hadn't thought much of it and had only nodded politely, well, until Lucy had showed her a picture of her niece, who had been visiting the ranch to see the horses with her school class. The little girl was grinning happily amidst a group of kids. But that wasn't what had caught Sophie's attention as soon as she had seen the picture. No... in the middle of the kids stood their missing Hitter, smiling brightly, looking so happy and carefree, as she had never seen before, a small child held securely on his hip.

Sophie had immediately gotten all the details she could from Lucy without being too suspicious and then she had informed the team that they could finally get Eliot back.

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That was how the team found themselves in a small town in the middle of nowhere, for the moment holed up in their hotel room, trying to make a battle plan. Sure, in the two years they had been looking for Eliot, Nate, Sophie, Parker and Hardison had often discussed what they were going to say to Eliot and how they were going to get him back. Their plans had ranged from trying to apologize, Sophie's idea, even though she really wasn't good at it, to Nate's plan to simply give enough reasons until Eliot could only come back to the plan to simply knock him out, kidnap him, drag him back to the headquarters and implant a tracking device into his arm so they could find him wherever he went, the combined idea of Parker and Hardison.

But now that they had actually found Eliot, it was a bit harder to actually work out how to go about this. The people in town weren't very helpful either. It was a small town with a strong community and apparently Eliot, or Lindsey, as he called himself now, was already a big part of said community, so the people hadn't told the team much about him, except that they were glad that he was here and that he had done so much for the town. But they hadn't gotten anything too helpful.

And Nate had stopped Hardison from planting cameras. They wanted Eliot to trust them and if he ever found out that they had tried to spy on him, and Nate was pretty sure that he would find out, then he would be mad at them and it would be even harder to get him back.

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"So, what are we going to do now?" Hardison questioned. He sat on the couch, a laptop perched on his knees. Parker sat by his side while Nate and Sophie sat on the bed opposite of the couch.

"I still vote for the kidnapping idea. My taser is fully loaded," Parker piped up and Hardison only rolled his eyes at the girlfriend, but he really wasn't totally against it, since he wanted Eliot back.

Nate sighed and scratched the back of his head in thought.

"Well, I don't think that this will work to our satisfaction, Parker," he said neutrally and when he saw the thief's face fall, he added: "But we'll keep the plan in mind as our last resort."

Parker's smile was back and Nate was glad for that, he didn't want to see her unhappy. Then he looked at his team.

"I guess our best course of action is to just drive out to the ranch, talk to him and hope that he will actually listen and not kick us out. Then we can figure out the rest," he suggested and Sophie, Parker and Hardison agreed with that plan. So the four of them piled into Lucille and drove out to the ranch. They were all anxious and also curious to see their Hitter, but they also worried how Eliot would react to them.

Would he be disappointed that they had taken so long to find him? Would he even want to see them?

After that video call they had had with Eliot before he had gone away, they had all wondered why exactly Eliot had left. And it had taken them embarrassingly long to figure it out completely. Well, at least they hoped that they had figure it out. But that hadn't made things easier for them and they weren't really sure how to put their feelings into words, since none of them was particular good at talking feelings.

.

So the fifteen minute drive out to the ranch was spent in silence because all members of team Leverage lost in their own thoughts until Hardison finally stopped Lucille in front of the huge main house of the ranch. They had driven down a long, sandy path, flanked by huge paddocks where many horses were running around. It was a peaceful atmosphere and Nate didn't doubt for one second that Eliot felt right at home here.

"Remember, he is Lindsey to the people here, so we need to call him that," he informed and when Sophie, Parker and Hardison nodded, they finally exited the car and looked around.

Nate took a deep breath and looked around the area. It really was beautiful out here and you felt right at home without even having to set one foot into the main house. And it was evident that Eliot had spent a lot of time and money on this, so it had to be a pretty important project to the Hitter. And Nate feared that the fact that this meant something to Eliot would make things even more complicated.

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The door to the main house bursting open, a group of kids running out of the house, dragged Nate's attention from his thoughts and he focused on the children. There were about ten to twelve children and they were between eight and ten years old. A young man and an elderly woman followed them, trying to calm them. They were teachers or social workers, Nate guessed. The kids all had happy smiles on their faces and were on the way to the stable that sat a little back from the main house. A ranch hand, at least judging from the shirt with the logo on it, which was the same as on the stable doors, was waiting for them. The group vanished into the stable.

Nate watched them go and suddenly this whole set-up made even more sense to him than it had done before. All the children had worn old, used clothes so they probably didn't have the money to allow them to go riding in normal stables. And Eliot let them enjoy themselves here, most likely without wanting to be paid.

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A small smile graced Nate's lips and he turned to Parker, Sophie and Hardison, who were looking at him for a sign what to do next.

"Let's go and find Eliot," he stated, which earned him a disapproving glare from Parker.

"I thought we were supposed to call him Lindsey," she complained and Nate only sighed.

"Let's go and find Lindsey," he corrected himself. Then he marched towards the stable, confident that they would find Eliot there, or at least someone who could tell them where Eliot was. And when they finally found Eliot, well, then they could really decide what exactly to do and what exactly they needed to do. Parker, Hardison and Sophie just followed Nate without question, the three of them eager to see Eliot.

When they had almost reached the stables, they could hear the giggling of the children and a slightly stressed female voice chided: "Calm, down, kids. In a few minutes you can ride the horse, but first Shelly needs to saddle it. Why don't you go out back and keep Lindsey and little Sammy company, but remember to be quiet, because Sammy needs his sleep."

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Nate's eyebrow rose higher and he finally entered the stable and saw the children crowded outside a stall, watched by the two adults they had also seen earlier. Inside the stall the young man, Shelly, was busy saddling a beautiful paint. The stallion was whinnying softly and almost impatiently as if it knew what was coming and was eager to get to the children.

Nate coughed a little to get the attention of the people and the children, who had been about to follow the order they had been given, stopped in their tracks and immediately fell silent and stared the four adults they had never seen before.

Shelly, who couldn't really see team Leverage from his place behind the horse, was a little confused at the sudden change of behavior of the kids and stepped out of the stall and looked at the newcomers.

Before Nate, Sophie, Hardison or Parker could say anything to introduce themselves, Shelly stiffened and Nathan saw something akin to recognition flicker in the other man's eyes for a second.

"Sandy, Peter, why don't you take the children to see the foals," he suggested and Sandy obviously picked up on the strange tone in Shelly's voice, because she gathered the children close.

"Come on, kids. It's going to take a little while longer and I know you wanted to see the foals anyway," she said, giving Peter a meaningful look over the again laughing kids' heads. The man now caught on too and the two of them herded the children past the Leverage team and out of the stable to wherever the foals were. They were barely sparing the four a glance.

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Nate also kept his gaze locked on this Shelly guy, who had closed the stall and now stood directly in their path, arms crossed in front of his chest, legs slightly spread apart, muscles tense. It reminded Nate of Eliot when the other man was fully aware of any danger around him and ready to attack any given second. The look on the man's face didn't exactly say "Welcome".

"You're here to see Eliot, aren't you?" he questioned, the voice not nearly as friendly as it had been with Sandy, Peter and the children.

Parker, Sophie and Hardison looked at Nate again, looking for guidance on how to deal with this situation. This was something they hadn't really expected to find and they had immediately realized too, that this man in front of them was dangerous.

"You're a Hitter," Parker suddenly piped up and took a cautious step closer to the other man.

Shelly just shrugged.

"Ex-Hitter, but I'm curious how you know," he said, his voice a tad warmer than before. Parker just grinned at him.

"It's a very distinctive stance," she said, her voice as deep as she could manage in a bad imitation of Eliot. And Shelly actually chuckled for a second, before his face hardened again.

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Hardison was getting impatient and he tapped his foot, before asking: "That is all great, but can we go and see Eliot now?"

A sharp elbow to his ribs made him wince in pain and he looked at Parker with a confused look on his face.

"What the hell, woman?" he asked his girlfriend. Parker only gave him a dark look.

"We're supposed to call him Lindsey, remember?" she hissed, trying to be quiet. Shelly, who had still heard her, chuckled again and his tense stance loosened a little.

"No need to pretend with me and with the other man, who's going to definitely stand in your way to see Eliot if you say as much as one wrong word," he told them, before adding: "But I'll advise you to pretend with the kids around or Eliot will have your head."

The crew stared at Shelly, still not exactly sure what to say to what was happening here. Whoever this Shelly was, he was protective of Eliot and if he was half as good a Hitter as Eliot was, then they wouldn't stand much of a chance against him.

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Nate, who was already working on a plan, was about to signal Sophie to try and charm the guy, when another figure appeared behind Shelly at the other end of the stable and the whole team gasped, because this man they recognized and it weren't really fond memories that came to mind.

"Shelly, stop scaring them. You know that El wants to see them," the man said and again Nate, Sophie, Parker and Hardison were rendered speechless when they heard the man speak like that and calling Eliot "El", a nickname not even team Leverage had been allowed to call him.

Shelly stepped aside and turned to the newcomer.

"Just looking out for your boy, Q, but I'll leave them to you now. I need to take care of the kids now anyway. You know how important routine is for them."

"Okay, take them to the back paddock, so they won't interrupt," the man suggested and Shelly nodded, quickly opened the stall and took the reins of the horse and lead him out of the stable, leaving Nate, Sophie, Hardison and Parker alone with the other man.

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"Follow me," the man said, but Nate quickly shook his head.

"Wait, last time we see you, you tried to kill Eliot, but suddenly you want us to believe he's your best buddy. Sorry, but I'm not about to walk into some kind of trap," he said sternly.

The man shrugged and turned away from them.

"Then stay here for all I care. I only have El's best interests at heart and nothing more, so do what you want, but I thought you wanted to talk to him," the man said and started to walk into the opposite direction of Shelly and the kids.

The team hesitated for a moment, but they were all anxious to see Eliot. Parker was the first to follow the man, Hardison and Sophie were next. And Nate finally followed too, even though he still found it a hard concept to grasp to see Quinn, Hitter extraordinaire, who had tried to kill Eliot the last time they had seen him, here on Eliot's ranch, acting as if he belonged nowhere else.

But all those thoughts immediately vanished when the team exited the stable and they finally got to see Eliot for the first time in two years... and when they suddenly realized how much their Hitter had changed...

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to be continued, if you're interested...

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So, there it is *smiles* I really hope you liked it... and as I said, comments would be most appreciated *smiles again*


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Wow, I really hadn't thought that you'd like this story so much, but I'm really, really happy that you do *does a little happy dance*

And I'm also glad that many of you seem to like the Eliot-pairing in this story *grin* That makes me happy too, because I quite like it in this story and would have been really sad if you didn't *smiles sheepishly* But since you seem to like it, it's all good *grin*

Now have fun reading the new chapter and comments would of course be most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*

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Thank you of course to **CoffeeAndCigarette, Jesco123, Mori Lina, Hitter, TheNaggingCube, patty cake rocks, SivanShemesh, Quiet Ryter, lmiller19, Huntress79, TheCritter92 and fro-chan** for all your wonderful reviews *hugs you*

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**Warnings:** SLASH, a few swear words and probably a little OOCness in this and future chapters...

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**Disclaimer:** None of the Leverage characters belong to me and I just borrowed them for this little story... this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...

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**Chapter 2**

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It didn't take long after they had exited the stable and followed Quinn until Eliot came in sight, but the picture that greeted them, was one they hadn't really expected to see and it made them stop dead in their tracks.

Eliot sat on a low wooden bench, a comfortable looking woolen blanket over his legs, but that wasn't what had made the team stop. No, it was the sleeping toddler in Eliot's arms and the fact that Quinn just walked over to him, sat down on the bench, nudging Eliot's shoulder with his own and then the Hitter gave Eliot a small smile, which Eliot returned without hesitation, before he shifted the sleeping child a little, so that he was more comfortable.

Nate and the rest of the team were still rooted to the spot, but they all drank in the sight of Eliot, happy to finally see the Hitter in person after two long years, taking in every detail of their long lost friend.

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Eliot's face looked almost the same as they remembered, the same startling blue eyes, the same easy smile, his hair a little longer than the last time they had seen him, tied in a neat ponytail with only a few stubborn strands escaping. A new, angry looking scar marred the left cheek, but it seemed to have healed pretty good so it couldn't be too recent. All in all Eliot didn't look much different, at least not more than they had expected.

But then their eyes traveled from his face downwards to the little boy, that was sleeping peacefully in Eliot's arms and then to Quinn, who sat very close to Eliot, watching them intently and Nate knew that, if they made one wrong move, they would be in a lot of trouble with the Hitter.

.There were so many questions the team wanted to ask, but seeing Eliot so comfortable, happy and almost like he had a real family with Quinn sitting so close, one hand resting comfortable on one of Eliot's legs, made it impossible to ask all the things they had wanted to ask. All the questions seemed a little inappropriate right now, so a tense silence hung in the air for a moment.

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"Hey Eliot," Sophie finally managed to get out, waving a little awkwardly at their former team-member, not sure what else to do. Instead of a greeting, Eliot only raised an eyebrow.

"So you finally found me," he stated, his voice friendly enough, just like they remembered, but also colder than they imagined and a little guarded. It was more than obvious that a lot had happened in the two years and the Hitter still seemed to be on his guard with them.

"You were really good at hiding," Hardison answered and he had to admit that he was a little impressed with Eliot that he had managed to avoid his snooping around and whoever he had worked with had to be pretty good with the hacking thing.

"I had help," was the other man's simple answer. Then there was that awkward silence again, a silence that had never been there between them, not even during that painful goodbye-speech two years ago.

"Oh for god's sake," Parker finally explained, before, with a few quick strides, she was over by Eliot's side and hugged the Hitter tightly, mindful of the toddler in his arms.

"We missed you, Sparky," she whispered into his ear, but loud enough for all present to hear it and for the first time since Nate, Sophie, Hardison and Parker had come face to face with their Hitter again, he gave them all a small, but genuine smile. But other than that he didn't say anything to them.

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Instead he turned to Quinn, who had just been sitting there, watching the whole exchange in silence.

"Can you put Sammy down?" I don't want his nap interrupted," he asked and Quinn raised an eyebrow in question and silent communication and Eliot smiled reassuringly.

"I'll be okay and able to hold my own until you're back. Bring the babyphone please," he said and then handed the sleeping boy, who only fussed a little, over to Quinn after kissing the dark curls on the kid's head.

Quinn bent down to take the toddler and, after a slight hesitation, he placed a quick kiss on Eliot's lips, only confirming what had been obvious anyway, at least to Nate and probably to Sophie too. Parker and Hardison gaped a little, but they wisely didn't say anything.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said and even though the words were meant for Eliot, Nate detected the hidden warning directed at them anyway. It said as much as "don't try to start anything stupid or I'll be here to kick your ass". Then Quinn left without another word.

.

Once again a silence settled over all of them, until Nate finally figured out which question he wanted to ask first and which had been nagging him ever since he'd heard the name "Sammy" and had seen Eliot with the toddler.

"Is Sammy yours?", he wanted to know, even though such a question definitely hadn't been on the list of "things to ask Eliot when we finally see him again".

Nate could see the Hitter stiffen a little and for a moment he thought that he might not get an answer, but then Eliot straightened his shoulders.

"Not by blood, but yes, he is my son in about everything else," he said curtly and Nate nodded.

"How?" he asked, tilting his head a little to the side, this time not sure if he even wanted an answer to this question. And Eliot's body language confirmed his worries. The former member of team Leverage was tense and felt a little uncomfortable.

"I rescued him on one of my missions. His mother was killed by terrorists right in front of my eyes and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it. And with her dying breath she pleaded for me to take care of her son, because she didn't have anyone else. And that's what I'm doing and I love Sammy with all that I am. So you better not question my decision or you can go now and never come back," Eliot explained and there was an edge to his voice that he'd never used with them before and Sophie quickly held her hand up in a pacifying gesture.

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Sure, she was still a little shocked at that new piece of information, but she really didn't want to alienate Eliot further and she also thought it was really admirable with the Hitter was doing.

"We weren't about to do that, Eliot," she assured and Eliot relaxed visibly.

"Good," he said and then he once again gave them a small smile.

"Now that this is out of the way, I guess you can start with the questions you wanted to ask before you came here to see me. You spent two days in the hotel for it, after all."

The team once again gaped at Eliot. But then again, they shouldn't be too surprised that Eliot had been aware that they were in town. And yes, they had had so many questions, but now that they were actually face to face with their long missing friend, they didn't really know where to start with the questions. It was once again Parker, who finally had enough of that awkwardness between them, or she simply wasn't aware enough that there was actually some tension between them. She looked at the man, who had become a big brother to her and questioned: "Are you going to come back now and be our Eliot again?"

.

The question had been the most important to ask, but Nate had actually told all of them not to ask it first. It probably was for the best, however, that Parker had asked and that she had asked it first thing. If they wanted an honest answer about this, then Parker was the most likely person to get it. And now that the question had finally been asked, they all waited with baited breath for an answer, anxious to hear what the other man had to tell them.

And they had expected a lot of things from Eliot, but not the clear and quick answer that Eliot gave them.

"No!" It was said with so much vehemence that Parker took a step away from the sitting man, looking a little like she had been slapped. And Hardison clenched his fists, hating that Eliot had once again put that look on his girlfriend's face. The Hacker, however, forced himself to stay calm, because getting mad would only complicate things further. Instead he concentrated on the main goal... getting Eliot back onto the team.

"But," he started, ready to launch into a little speech about all the reasons why Eliot had to come back, why he couldn't keep running from them, why they needed him, why he needed them. He had made a list, after all and had memorized it.

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Eliot didn't let him continue and his voice was hard, when he told him: "No buts, Hardison, me coming back to the team isn't an option anymore."

Nate immediately noticed that there wasn't just anger in his voice, but also bitterness and... if Nate wasn't completely wrong, regret. He took a step closer to the Hitter and questioned: "Why don't you want to come back? Tell us why and we will try our best to fix it. We provide leverage after all."

The last part was meant as a joke to lighten the mood a little, but Eliot only fixed him with a glare that made the Mastermind feel about two foot small.

"There are some things that just can't be fixed, Nate," he told him, voice flat and emotionless.

"But..." Hardison started again, but then he fell silent in shock and only stared at Eliot, just like the rest of the team did when they finally found out what Eliot meant by "some things just can't be fixed", because with one quick motion Eliot had pulled the blanket away from his legs... and it was painfully obvious why he wouldn't come back and be their Hitter again...

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to be continued...

Yeah, I know that chapter is a lot shorter than the first one, but when I typed it down, I thought this was a good place to stop to keep up the suspense *evil grin*

And I fear the story will be a little longer than three chapters, because while I'm typing it down, I'm adding little things and a few new twists, and I hope you don't mind... it's still finished, it just will take a little longer until I get to that finish *grins sheepishly*

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and comments would of course be appreciated *puppy dog eyes*


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** **See end of the chapter this time, because it's a bit long to put it here... and please read it...  
**

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Comments are most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*

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Thank you to** SivanShemesh, TheNaggingCube, patty cake rocks, lmiller19, Quiet Ryter, Jesco123 and RoddieSeiko **for all your kind words *hugs you all*

.

**Warning:** SLASH, a few swear words and probably a little OOCness in this and future chapters...

.

**Disclaimer:** None of the Leverage characters belong to me and I just borrowed them for this little story... this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...

.

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**Chapter 3**

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"What the hell?"

Hardison really couldn't hold back the words of shock, when Eliot had pulled the blanket away from his legs and his eyes were so wide that it hurt. The rest of the team didn't really fare much better. They were all staring at their former teammate, so shocked that none of them said anything else for the moment.

Yes, there was a reason why Eliot had had that blanket over his legs and why he couldn't come back as their Hitter anymore, no matter if he wanted or not. Eliot's right leg was a mess... it looked like someone had made an effort to put it through a paper shredder and then go at it with a meat cleaver. There were scars everywhere, bruises and from the way Eliot held his leg, he probably wasn't able to use it much anymore, let alone bent it at the knee. They were able to see this, because he was wearing shorts and not the jeans he had usually worn. And when Eliot shifted a little, the shirt he wore rode up for a moment and Nate could see that the scars extended up towards his hip and who knew how much further. They also noticed the crutches leaning against the bench for the first time.

Nathan tore his eyes away from the leg and looked at Eliot, before he questioned softly, not able to keep the sadness and pity out of his eyes: "What happened?"

"Prison camp in some small country, thanks to the hospitality of a crime lord," was the short and quiet answer. Eliot ran a wary hand over his face and then he added after a short pause: "My last job for the government."

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"And I saved his ass," a voice added and suddenly Quinn had come back out of nowhere. He did not just have a baby-phone tugged into the back pocket of his jeans, no he also had a glass of water and some pills in his hand. Eliot raised an eyebrow at the other Hitter when Quinn sat down beside him and wordlessly held the pills and the glass of water out to him. The younger man just shrugged, a small smile on his face.

"I know when you're in pain and don't want to admit it, El. So please take the the pain medication."

That didn't really help the team to recover from their shock. They had never heard Quinn talk like that and that Eliot didn't protest and just swallowed the pills, spoke volumes of how close the two men were, more than many words ever could. Silence reigned for a moment, Nate, Sophie, Hardison and Parked didn't really know what to say to this. And Eliot was aware that the team needed some time to process the new situation, so he turned to Quinn.

"Sammy is still asleep?" he asked and Quinn only nodded, helping Eliot to rearrange the blanket over his legs again.

"He's out like a light and Shelly's going to take care of the kids for today", he said, answering Eliot's question without the other man actually having to ask it. Once again it spoke volumes of the closeness of Quinn and Eliot.

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Nate had finally managed to recover a little and he coughed to get the Hitter's attention back on them.

"Eliot, please tell us a little about what has happened in the last two years," he pleaded, because he, like the rest of the team, really needed to know how Eliot had got to come where he was now. And thinking about everything he had learned about Eliot in the years he had been with their team, it really seemed fit for Eliot to retire to a ranch and help kids with whatever they had to deal with, even though Nate still wasn't really sure where exactly all those kids came from.

What Nate really hadn't expected, was for Eliot to settle down with another man and raise a kid, even though Nate had always suspected, no scratch that, he had always known that Eliot would make a great father.

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Eliot tilted his head to the side and a small smile made his way onto its face, probably in an attempt to stop the team from looking at him with pity in his eyes.

"If you want to hear the whole story then you better take a seat, 'cause we'll be here for a while," he said and then he turned to Quinn again, smiling warmly at him, a totally different smile than the one he had shown the team seconds ago.

"Can you get them something to drink?" he questioned, before adding: "I really hope you bought the Orange Soda and that special Indian tea I asked you to buy yesterday."

Quinn chuckled.

"Of course I did, El, I mean, you only reminded me four times every hour for the last two days," he answered, an amused twinkle in his eyes. Then he stood up, ignoring the wide-eyed stares he received once again, especially from Hardison and Sophie, walking back towards the main house without another word. Nate watched him go for only a moment and then he turned to Eliot again.

"You're awfully prepared for us coming here to see you," he remarked.

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Eliot just shrugged to that.

"I've known you're in town ever since you've passed the city lines."

Nate simply raised an eyebrow and the Hitter just shrugged again, giving him a tired smile.

"Just because I'm done with the business, doesn't mean that the business is done with me. I have a lot of enemies on both sides of the law, so I took precautions to keep my family as safe as possible," he explained and Nate noticed that he didn't elaborate if he, Sophie, Hardison and Parker were included in that "family" too. Then Eliot added in a self-derisive manner: "I mean, with my leg and hip damaged I'm not as good as I used to be."

When Hardison opened his mouth to protest, Eliot just shrugged again, a resigned look on his face: "It's the truth, Hardison. I'm still able to fight a little, but not as hard and vicious as I could before, and certainly not against numerous opponents and to protect anyone else but me. That's one of the reasons why I can't come back to you. I wouldn't be able to keep you all safe, even if I wanted to."

Nate had, of course, caught the wording and he made a mental note to ask Eliot what else had held him back from coming back to the team in those past two years.

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Parker, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, seemed to have finally figured out something.

"That's why you have all those other Hitters around."

Eliot stared at her and actually growled a little.

"They're not just Hitters, Parker," he spat, ignoring the wide-eyed look he once again received from the whole team and continued: "Shelly is an old and good friend, who wanted to settle down too and decided that this was where he wanted to be... and Quinn... well, he's..."

Eliot hesitated for a second, before he added, this time his voice strong and full of affection: "Quinn is my heart and my home now, together with Sammy... I love him."

Parker, who had first looked a little hurt that Eliot had yelled at her, now looked embarrassed, because even she realized that her words had hurt Eliot and that was the last thing she had wanted to do. She took a step closer to Eliot and put a hesitant hand on his shoulder, probably a little afraid that he'd reject her. When Eliot didn't move, she finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Eliot. I didn't mean it as a bad thing. Hitters are awesome and great and everything else positive I can't think of right now. Forgive me?" she asked, giving Eliot a small, hopeful smile and Eliot's face softened immediately.

"Of course I forgive you, Parker," he answered the thief, who rewarded him with one of her blinding smiles for this, which made the Hitter feel a little better.

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Sophie, who had been quiet for a long time and had been turning some things and statements over and over in her head, finally spoke up again.

"It wasn't a coincidence that Lucy showed me that picture, was it?" she wanted to know, arms crossed in front of her chest. Eliot chuckled and his eyes twinkled a little and for a moment he looked like the Eliot they knew and had missed these past two years.

"It has been two years, Sophie and I haven't slipped up once, even though you were close to finding me a few times," he explained, before straightening a little in the chair he sat, careful not to move his injured leg too much and then he looked at his former team one after the other.

"So what makes you think that I have slipped up now all of a sudden?" he asked them calmly and also crossed his arms in front of his chest, a clearly defensive posture.

"Good point," Hardison admitted, because he had been asking himself the same thing. But he also felt a little better when Eliot admitted that they had at least been close to find him a few times. That meant that he hadn't screwed up, but Eliot had just had help that had outwitted him for once. But it was also more than a little unsettling that they had been looking for him for two years and then he had made them find him on his own terms, but without actually telling them and rubbing it in their faces that they hadn't been able to find him.

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And Hardison realized, that, even after all those years of working closely with Eliot on a daily basis, he still had underestimated the other man. And the Hacker now knew that this was part of the reason why Eliot had left in the first place two years ago.

"So that means that you were finally ready to see us," Nate concluded and Eliot nodded.

"Yes, I were and I am," he answered curtly, the tension leaving his shoulders for a moment.

"And why now?" Sophie looked at the Hitter, question in her eyes.

The question was a logical one, but Eliot had a lot of answers to that one and the team wasn't actually sure that they wanted an answer at all. If Eliot had avoided them for two years, why was he ready to see them all of a sudden? Eliot broke into a bright smile and it took the team only a moment to realize that that genuine, happy smile wasn't directed at them, but it was aimed over their shoulders and all of them turned at once to see who the Hitter was smiling at. And they didn't need long to figure it out.

Quinn was walking towards them, but he wasn't alone. Shelly was walking beside him, an easy smile on his lips, carrying a tray full of drinks in his hands. And Quinn had a now wide awake Sammy in his arms.

"Because I'm finally where I wanted to be, when I came face to face with you again," Eliot explained, before he turned all of his attention towards Shelly, Quinn and Sammy, completely ignoring his former team... an action that said a lot more than thousand words...

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to be continued...

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**A/N: **Okay, I'm really, really sad that Leverage is now officially canceled... thank you TNT fo**r **ruining my Christmas *sniff*

I love this show so much and I'm really, really going to miss it... it has helped me smile during some really tough and shitty times in my life and I met great people through this show that have become good friends and I'll be forever grateful for that... *smiles sadly*

Of course I will continue writing Leverage stories and I really, really hope that you will still want to read what I have to write.

So, to cheer me up a little, I typed down the next part of this story and hopefully it will cheer you all up a little too and you enjoyed reading it and comments would of course be most appreciated *smiles* And of course: Merry Christmas everyone *sends all her faithful readers Christmas hugs*


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey everybody, I'm awfully sorry that I haven't updated anything in a long while, but RL has been kicking my ass for a while now. And now my grandfather has fallen terribly ill and we're trying to come to terms with and accept it... I try to get my head straight by finally writing again. It's only working partially so far, but at least it works *smiles a little*

So yeah, that's a reason why the chapter is so short, but at least it's an update and I really hope you will like it.

And comments would of course be most appreciated *smiles*

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Thank you of course to patty cake rocks, SivanShemesh, Quiet Ryter, Jesco123, TheNaggingCube, Mori Lina, tangielove and Yamm1983for all your kind reviews *hugs you all* Your kind words really help me to feel better *smiles*

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**Warning:** SLASH, a few swear words and probably a little OOCness in this and future chapters...

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**Disclaimer:** None of the Leverage characters belong to me and I just borrowed them for this little story... this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...

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**Chapter 4**

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"Because I'm finally where I wanted to be, when I came face to face with you again."

The words alone wouldn't have been so bad, but that Eliot's whole attention was now on Quinn, Sammy and Shelly, that really drove home the point that their Hitter seemed to have moved on with his life... without them.

Eliot really barely spared them a glance while he spoke again.

"I thought you were with the kids, Shel?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in confusion. The other Hitter just grinned and shrugged.

"The foals are way more interesting than I am, at least so far. So I decided to give them a few more minutes," he explained, his words innocent, but Eliot heard the underlying "and that gave me a chance to check on you."

Out loud Shelly continued: "And Quinn needed a hand with the drinks, anyway when little Sammy woke up and started crying."

He raised the tray he held in his hands a little to emphasize his words, Hardison's beloved orange soda the most prominent drink on it. Eliot nodded to his friend's words and then he turned his full attention to Quinn and the still sniffling Sammy.

"I thought he was out like a light," he questioned, held out his arms and took the toddler from the other man. Quinn chuckled and sat down beside Eliot again, following the other man's lead and completely ignored Nate's, Sophie's, Parker's and Hardison's presence.

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"When I left, he was, but I guess he remembered that his daddy forgot to sing his usual lullaby and is now demanding for us to correct that situation," he explained and the two men still ignored team Leverage, but at least Shelly remembered them and also his manners and offered all of them drinks.

"If he wanted a lullaby so bad, then why didn't his papa sing for him?" Eliot teased, cradling the baby closer to his chest, running a finger gently down the baby's cheek and that made the baby gurgle in happiness, earlier discomfort apparently forgotten now that he was back in Eliot's arms.

Quinn simply shook his head, an exasperated expression on his face.

"You were the one who told me that our child would have nightmares if I continued to sing for him," he defended himself and this time it was Eliot, who laughed happily and a little mischievously.

"And I still stand by that statement. Your singing can be classified as a deadly weapon", he told his lover and then he gently sat the baby down on his lap, mostly on his good leg and propped him up against his chest, so that Sammy could take a look around. Quinn gave him a dark look for a second, but it quickly softened again and he bumped Eliot's shoulder in a sign of affection, before placing a hand gently on the baby's head.

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Nate, now with a glass of water in his hand, had watched the exchange with decidedly mixed feelings. He could easily see how much Quinn and Eliot meant to each other in every little thing they did. And he could also see how much the little boy, who was now looking around in interest, meant to the both of them. And, of course, he hadn't missed that Quinn had used the possessive pronoun "our" and Eliot had probably deliberately called him "papa".

And suddenly Nate really looked at Eliot's hands, which were secure around Sammy's small waist and his eyes flickered to Eliot's left hand and he gaped a little, then his eyes traveled to Quinn and his eyes grew even wider when he saw that Quinn had the same gold band around his ring finger that Eliot had. It could mean that it was just a promise ring or something, but somehow, given how close Eliot and Quinn were, Nate doubted that. The rest of the team hadn't picked up on it yet and so Nate kept quiet, because he hoped that Eliot would tell them about this little development on his own, well in a way he already had when he had told them that he loved Quinn.

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But this meeting really had turned out totally different from what he had expected. For some selfish reasons Nate had hoped that Eliot was just waiting for them to apologize and then he would come back to the team. None of them had ever really thought that Eliot might not want to come back to them. And now, when it was more than obvious that Eliot had actually let them find him, it really looked like it had never been about coming back to them, it had been about saying goodbye.

In the two years where the four of them had tried to find Eliot, the Hitter had been busy building a new life... without them...

And that thought hurt... it really hurt a lot.

And just now Nate realized that this had to have been how Eliot had felt all the time when they had got together and Eliot had kind of been left on the outside of it, even though it had never been voluntarily. Had it really hurt the younger man as much as it hurt Nate, and probably the rest of the team too, because he could see it on their faces, that they had built these lives together? And if it had really hurt so much to see that every day, then Nate could almost understand why Eliot had left them...

.

But then again, he could just have told them how he felt and that he didn't want to be on the outside so much. They could have toned their little displays of affection down when they were with him and they would have included him more.

Again, that had never been Eliot's character, because if he had told them how he had felt, then things would have got awkward between all of them and Eliot would have felt guilty about that. Because Nate wholeheartedly believed that the Hitter had meant it when he had said that he was happy that they had all found each other. But Eliot had really just been tired of having to try to adjust who he was just to fit in. That really wasn't in his nature.

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But no matter of all that understanding, Nate also felt himself get angry, all the hurt of the past two years coming back to the surface. Because, if Eliot didn't want to come back, then why hadn't he just told them the same way he had told them that he was leaving? Why call them here to shove that new life he had built without them in their faces?

And before Nathan could stop himself and even though a loud voice in his head screamed that this was a very bad idea, he asked, his voice a lot more nasty than he had intended: "So that's why you lead us here to meet you? To shove your new-found happiness into our faces? To show us that you have built a new family and a new life without us? Is this your idea of revenge against us for the way we treated you, even though we had no idea that we were hurting you at all?"

His words were met with a dead silence, only interrupted by Sophie's shocked "Nate". Parker and Hardison were staring at him with wide eyes and the blonde thief had inched a little closer to Hardison, who had a hand on the small of her back. Their eyes slowly shifted towards Quinn and Eliot.

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Quinn had leaped to his feet, his face a mask of fury and he would probably have attacked and hurt Nate if Eliot's hand hadn't suddenly shot forward to grab the other Hitter's elbow to stop him. Sammy, who had sensed the change of behavior of his dad, started crying softly and Eliot quickly, but gently held the little boy closer to his chest to soothe him.

"Quinn, can you take Sammy for a little while?" he asked, his voice strained, a lot of emotions hidden in it.

"But," the other man started, displeasure evident on his face.

"Please, Q, he really doesn't need to hear what I have to say next and I don't want him caught in this. He has had enough trauma to last a lifetime and I don't want him to remember any of it," Eliot explained, his eyes conveying the message "let me handle this on my own. I need to do this".

Quinn's anger immediately deflated and nodded reluctantly. He once again took the boy from Eliot, trying to soothe the toddler. Shelly, who had also looked everything but happy about what Nate had said, followed Quinn without another word and the two Hitters walked a few steps away from them, out of earshot, but still close enough to read from body language if their support was needed. They had both given Nate a deadly glare and the man was pretty sure he would be dead if he said one more wrong word to Eliot.

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His former teammate meanwhile stood up, slowly and with obvious difficulties and for Sophie, Parker, Hardison and Nate it was a little painful to watch the man who had always been graceful in everything he did, struggle to do such a simple task.

Eliot was determined not to use his crutches for this confrontation, because he hated them and he wanted to do this on his own, without Quinn and Shelly and without that damn crutches. He slowly limped, his leg stiff, towards Nate. It was more than obvious that every step was painful, at least judging by the lines of pain on his face. But Eliot only stopped when he stood face to face with Nate, shifting most of his weight onto his uninjured leg.

And despite being a little shorter than Nate, the mastermind felt about two foot tall under the piercing blue eyes, Eliot aimed at him. And he opened his mouth to try and apologize and to explain that he hadn't really meant what he had said, that he had once again talked before really thinking it through, but the look in Eliot's eyes made every word die on his tongue.

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So instead it was Eliot, who broke the silence.

"Do you really think that this is why I got you to come here?" he questioned, hurt and betrayal in his voice.

"Come on, Nate. I mean, I told you before I left that I'm happy for all of you and that's still how I feel about this," he started, his voice eerily calm, almost detached from everything, just the means to get his point across.

"And I just wanted to share my happiness with you... and now I wonder if it maybe is you, who can't stand to see me happy without you," he added and finally allowed a flash of hurt to show in his eyes for a short moment. Nate shook his head and held his hand up in a pacifying gesture, but Eliot didn't really let him get a word in. Instead he said something none of them had ever expected him to say to them.

"And if you just can't be happy for me, then it's better if you just leave and never come back..."

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to be continued...


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